Dwight

You can look on this post, . . . and see every stitch I put in my belt loops. Look at the enclosed pictures, . . . these are my 3D note pads I refer to when I am making a cartridge belt. At 67+, . . . somethimes the memory ain't worth a dime, . . . so I have cheaters. These are mine. This is how I do it. Yep, . . . the little ones are for .22's and the big ones are for .44 or .45. May God bless, Dwight

As far as the bullets go, . . . I usually pull them all out after I have riveted down both ends. By that time, . . . the sizing, forming, etc. has all been done, . . . and most of the stretching/shrinking has also taken place. I come back after dyeing & finishing and re-insert the bullets to make sure nothing has changed. Invariably, one loop will have tried to shrink on me, . . . but that is usually the worst. As far as advantage, . . . just a personal note, . . . I wouldn't give anyone two whoops for a sewn cartridge belt. I've owned em in the past, . . . doubt that one will ever grace my place again. I also refuse to make them for my customers. When they see my personal black rig, . . . that is usually enough, . . . And, . . . I can usually do a 24 loop section of a belt in just about 45 minutes, . . . that is from a blank belt back and piece of loop strap, . . . to a cartridge belt, punched, looped, and riveted, . . . drying so it can be finished up. May God bless, Dwight

I use 4 oz or so veg tan in my bullet loops, . . . do not sew them, . . . loop out and back through the same hole. Rivets hold the ends, . . . and it is always contact cememted to the liner. Always do em wet, . . . use actual bullet for sizing, shaping, etc. I use a 7/8 in wide strap pulling through a 3/4 in strap punch hole, . . . have never had any problems with it. Sometimes the first few loops are a bit tough, . . . but after it dries, . . . gets dyed, finished, etc.. . . they always look good to me, . . . customers are happy. Works for me. May God bless, Dwight

I bought my Boss back about 6 or 8 years ago, . . . NIB, . . . have not looked back. My hands are for hamburgers, . . . machines are for stitching leather. I guess I figure that anything I make at age 67 will long outlast me, . . . no matter which way I do it, . . . And if there is a company that stands behind their machines better than Tippmann, . . . it must be Zippo. May God bless, Dwight

I actually make two different ones, . . . vertical and horizontal. I couldn't find a vertical pic, . . . but this is the horizontal one. inside the box are stacked, glued pieces of scrap leather that fill in opening under the barrel so that once it is dropped in, . . . it never re-orients itself in a different direction. The verticle one also had a small cut out for the trigger guard, . . . allowing a cleaner grip on the weapon. I never got to where I could present from this as well as my 1911 IWB, . . . but it was still pretty quick. May God bless, Dwight

I have a customer for whom I produce a square, molded, leather box with a snap on the bottom flap, . . . holds an LCP perfectly muzzle down, . . . just like a holster, . . . I think that personally I would have issues with it snagging, . . . but it is so common looking, . . . doubt if anyone would ever be made with it, . . . Have never had one returned by an unhappy customer. May God bless, Dwight

I went out today to the shop, . . . got a really good look at it, . . . the wool leather is gone, rotted, it is like watered down cardboard. You hit it on the head 'helmethead" (no pun intended,............) and that is exactly what I will have to do. Ahh, . . . well, . . . my fingers were just getting well after being smashed between two concrete blocks, . . . guess we'll see if they still work Hey, everybody, thanks for all the good words, suggestions, etc. Y'all make me glad I stop by here. May God bless, Dwight

Kevin, . . . thank you, . . . I was really afraid of the cement idea, . . . but there just simply isn't much of a pool of help in this area. I really had liked your idea, . . . but had not formulated in my mind that the reason it split was maybe a fat horse, . . . and come to think of it, . . . he has some pretty "robust" stock. Seriously, . . . he does take good care of his animals, . . . Again, my appreciation. May God bless, Dwight

A friend asked me to look at his saddle, said it needed a bit of repair. He brought it over, . . . the wool on the underside of the saddle is split, . . . from the very rear of the saddle, about 8 or 9 inches straight forward, . . . almost dead center of the saddle. He suggested I could maybe cement it up against the bottom of the rear skirt, . . . but I told him I would ask the experts, . . . on here. Personally, . . . I thought of just hand stitching the split back together, . . . would like to hear "What would you do?" Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

The singular thing I like most about leather working, . . . it is the individuality and creativity that comes naturally with the project(s). As an example, . . . did two holsters and two mag pouches a few weeks ago for a customer. One set black, . . . one set reddish brown. Black set dyed with no problem, . . . brown set came out totally different. Looked as though different dyes were used. Most of it went away with the final finish, . . . but there was still a difference. Since they are worn on opposite sides, . . . I didn't think it was enough to re-make either of them, . . . customer was OK with the decision. Once you start decorating the stuff, . . . uhhh, . . . it get's habit forming, . . . fun habit forming, . . . Oh, . . . and welcome to the forum, . . . stick around a while, . . . you'll have fun. May God bless, Dwight

A few years back, . . . I got burned on a piece of leather from Tandy, . . . it was in the wrong stack, . . . I was in a hurry, . . . unfortunately for me, I cut into it before I measured it. Ever since, . . . I take my dial caliper when I go to buy leather, . . . even if I'm going to Weaver's, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I actually use a dial caliper for my belt material, . . . and I'll find two pieces I have that make a belt between .180 and .210. I really like hitting it .195 to .200, . . . they seem to be the better cross between pliability and strength. My belt I have on right now is about 6 years old, . . . measures .250+ and has been a real trooper. May God bless, Dwight

I have not done it yet, . . . but I did talk to a company rep from down in Florida a couple of years back. They make custom band saw blades. I asked him if they could make me one without any teeth, . . . sort of like one endless razor blade. He laughed and said no problem, . . . something less than $30 for a 62 1/2 inch blade. Again, . . . I didn't do it yet, . . . but if my arthritis gets much worse, . . . the knives are going into the drawer, . . . I'll be getting a band saw knife to do my work. May God bless, Dwight

I'm happy with godaddy,................. Getting up in the morning has a learning curve, . . . Once you figure it out, . . . goes easier from there on out. May God bless, Dwight

Apparently they changed it somewhat, . . . or I disremember, . . . anyway: click on Range and Training Supplies>Training Weapons>Blue Guns, . . . it should come up. If you don't see the one you want, . . . call them, . . . they'll get it. May God bless, Dwight

The old fashioned bees wax / neatsfoot oil recipe is really easy: equal parts of each, . . . by weight !!!!! Put in a glass jar, . . . put the glass jar in water in a crock pot, . . . go have some coffee and a doughnut or two, . . . come back when the wax is melted and you have only liquid in the glass jar. Pour that liquid into something like cupcake papers (in a muffin pan) and allow it to THOROUGHLY cool. You use it similar to Kiwi shoe polish, . . . I usually rub it in with my fingers, . . . judiciously use a WARM heat gun to help melt it a bit, . . . takes about 3 good applications, . . . it actually is MY favorite finish, . . . but it is not as durable as the acrylics. May God bless, Dwight

If I knew a word that was better than EXCELLENT, I would use it. Course, I'm a bit prejudiced as a pastor. Seriously, . . . really good job. May God bless, Dwight

Bo, . . . I was in a leather shop a few months ago, . . . manager called out my name, . . . "I've got a job for you" Turned out a customer had come in looking for a custom billfold, . . . they don't do it, . . . as a lark he hollered at me. Customer showed me a 30 year old billfold, . . . said he wanted one just like it, . . . without all the wear. Long story short, . . . I priced it to him, . . . he never batted an eye, . . . gave me the old one, . . . I got a very happy letter from him later when he got the new one. Enclosed is the design, . . . the pics are of my "trial piece", . . . but it shows the design. May God bless, Dwight

I had to go back and look at it again, . . . and this is the company I was referring to. http://www.letargets.com/ Look over in the right hand column and you will find the words "blue guns", . . . if you double click that, . . . they will come up. These again are super people to deal with, . . . best price I could find after a couple of days digging several years ago, . . . May God bless, Dwight

If you google "law enforcement targets", . . . there is a company by that name up in I believe, . . . Minnesota (?), . . . but they also carry the blue guns. Look at their "inventory" and see if what you want is there, . . . if not, just call them. They are super people to work with, . . . very seldom have I had to pay over $40 for one of their blue guns, . . . and if they don't have it, . . . they'll get it drop shipped to you if you ask them to. They even did an emergency order for me once, . . . yeah, it got here in time, . . . I cannot say enough good about the people. May God bless, Dwight

First, . . . I guess I would hope that the wonderful folks I deal with would never pull such a typical Democrat stunt. Secondly, . . . I'd tell him to help himself, . . . when the day is over, . . . it will be "he said / he said", . . . without full evidence to prove I did do it, . . . I cannot be convicted, . . . my lawyer will then go after him for all the court costs he caused me to incur, . . . he WILL pay those costs, . . . in the long run, . . . he could just go out and buy himself a new Kimber with what he would have lost in the legal wranglings. And I would plainly spell it out to him just that way. Then I would most likely take a very large pair of scissors, . . . cut up whatever it was I made for him, . . . and tell him to take his fat carcass, . . . get out of my shop, . . . and do not come back. I don't play the "legal liability" games. Yes, there are people out there who will try their best to "get" anyone and everyone they can, . . . but I just don't put up with those kinds of jerks. May God bless, Dwight

1911 5 in, 1911 4 in, 1911 3 in, Glock 21, 5 shot 38 wheel gun would be my list. After that it goes all sorts of directions, . . . including Colt SA Army. May God bless, Dwight

Yep, . . . unh-huh, . . . thass the one, . . . fer shore !!!! May God bless, Dwight

For the long term, . . . this I believe is the better way, . . . just happens to be the way I do mine also. I ride my Boss's foot right up next to the clip, . . . and they turn out good and solid. May God bless, Dwight

When I got my Boss, . . . seems like right after me and Noah got done with some flooding, . . . it only had the original "Y" foot. I guessed on the center presser foot as the one that would do more for my work: belts, holsters, wallets, etc. I guessed right. It has worked for everything I have ever asked it to do, . . . and your formed cases don't seem like they would be any different. I have even used it occasionally as the 'width" gauge on setting the stitches the right distance from the edge on some "not too critical" projects. FWIW, . . . It is about all that is ever on my machine. May God bless, Dwight